KUALA LUMPUR: The silver chariot carrying the idols of Lord Murugan and his two consorts, Valli and Theivanai, from Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Jalan Tun HS Lee, here, to Sri Subramaniar Swamy temple in Batu Caves this year will be a colourful chariot.
The chariot will be decorated with light-emitting diode (LED) lights unlike in previous years, to match the newly renovated, vibrant Batu Caves temple.
The temple’s volunteer electrician, P Ravichandran said using LED lights could also help reduce heat.
“Previously, we used normal bulbs which emitted more than 90 percent of energy. Now with LED, we reduce the heat emitted by light bulbs,” he said.
The chariot procession will begin from Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Jalan Tun HS Lee today at 10pm and reaching the Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar Swamy temple about 3pm tomorrow.
Ravichandran said it took him three weeks to decorate the chariot with LED lights.
Meanwhile, Sri Maha Mariamman temple trustee, K Kathirasan said a diamond-shaped decorative light had also been fixed inside the chariot, and it created a unique lighting impact on the 7.3-metre high chariot.
Elaborating on the history of the Thaipusam chariot, he said the first silver chariot procession was held on Jan 21, 1983 from Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Jalan Tun HS Lee to Batu Caves.
“However, before the silver chariot was introduced, the chariot was made of teak wood or ‘thekku maram’….we had a few thousand devotees joining the procession but now we have many more following the chariot on foot for almost 16 hours,” he said.
On the preparations for Thaipusam, Kathirasan said the temple needed to perform special prayers to get blessings from God before the chariot would be cleaned, polished and decorated.
“It takes about a month to complete the cleaning, polishing and decorating, and this will be followed up with another prayer before the chariot leaves for Batu Caves this Saturday,” he said.
Kathirasan said when the chariot reached the Batu Caves temple on Sunday, a flag with a picture of a rooster or ‘seval kodi’ would be hoisted by Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar Swamy temple chairman, Tan Sri R Nadarajah, marking the beginning of the Thaipusam celebration at the temple on Monday.
Thaipusam is observed by Hindus all over the world in the month of “Thai” in the Tamil calendar to commemorate the act of Goddess Parvathi presenting the “vel” (lance) to her son, Lord Muruga as an embodiment of her “shakti” or power to vanquish the evil Soorapadman and restore peace and well-being.
During Thaipusam, Hindus fulfil their vows by carrying well-decorated “kavadis” and pots of milk as offerings to Lord Muruga. – Bernama
